Here With Me
by Mika-chan
Summary: Taichi needs an appendectomy; he isn't thrilled. Taichi & Yamato friendship story.


Warnings: You might get a cavity due to the sweetness in this fic and a few medical inaccuracies.

Disclaimers: The Digimon characters do not belong to me and if they did there would have been a line of destined children plushies in addition to the already existing digimon dolls. But sadly there isn't, so they are not mine. And also no profit is being made from this piece of fiction. It's fans for fans.

Here With Me

By Mika-chan

It began with a stomachache.

And then a fever.

And then...well, he really didn't want to think about it right now and fortunately enough he wasn't thanks to a certain group of people.

"Mimi, would you stop playing with those flowers. You came to visit Taichi, not them." Sora frowned as she said this, arms crossed and foot tapping irritatingly on the floor.

The pink haired girl however paid the other no heed continuing to rearrange the daisies. "Oh but Sora, I'm just making sure that everything is perfect. You know what they say, a perfect environment a perfect mood. And Taichi needs to be in the best mood for his surgery." Mimi stepped back to observe her work, beaming seconds later when she realized she'd finally gotten the flowers _just_ right. It was rather unfortunate that no one else shared in her glee, which wasn't very unusual since no one could really say they ever understood her logic. Sora illustrated this palpably when she lowered her head into the palm of her hand and shook it in exasperation.

Taichi held back a laugh as he watched the exchange from his bed. "It's okay Sora; I'm just happy you both came here to visit."

"Hey, don't forget about us, big brother," Hikari said, poking his arm lightly from where she was sitting. "We came too."

"Aww, and I'm grateful for it," Taichi grinned as he reached over and mussed up the girl's hair which earned him a light smack on the offending hand. "You know you guys didn't all have to come. It's just a routine procedure."

Yamato smirked from his spot at the end of the bed. "And miss out on seeing you in a hospital gown? Forget it." That brought on a round of laughter from everyone in the room and even the usually very reserved Iori cracked a smile.

"Well since you seem so interested, Yamato," Taichi gibed as the laughter began to die down, "this one _does _have a back so no free show for you!" Again the room was filled with laughter due more to the redness that crept onto the blonde's face than the remark itself. Taichi grinned widely from his bed, hands resting on his lap.

He'd only been here for two days, the Odaiba Hospital that is, waiting for the operation that was taking place today to take out his appendix. As a surprise the entire digidestined team, new and old, came to visit him just before he went under. He was rather touched by the gesture as much as he was grateful. It had been pretty boring these past two days, sitting in a stiff bed with nothing to do, and although he wasn't likely to admit it, all this talking really helped him keep his mind off of what was going to happen in a short while.

"You better stop, Taichi," Takeru smiled from behind Hikari's seat, hands braced on the back of it, "or nii-chan's going to get overheated and then _he'll_ be in the hospital gown."

If possible Taichi's smile widened and he tapped his chin thoughtfully. "You're right, TK. For all the fangirls out there I guess I'll have to try harder!"

"Definitely!" All attention moved to Miyako who clamped her hands over her mouth the instant she realized what she had said. Her face turned a brilliant shade of red.

Daisuke seemed highly amused at this probably because for once he hadn't been the one to make the embarrassing outburst as he was inclined to do. Bobbing back and forth on his heels, his hands clasped behind his back, he turned to his idol. "You better get on with it, Taichi-senpai, for Miyako's sake of course!"

Taichi winced as he watched Miyako dive for Daisuke's neck.

"Be QUIET, Daisuke!"

"ACK!"

Ken and Koushiro smartly sidestepped out of the way. Everyone else watched with varied displays of disbelief.

"You two really shouldn't do that in here," Iori observed as Miyako put the begoggled boy into a headlock.

"OW! Help! Someone!"

"You should learn when to keep your mouth _shut_!"

"You know what that is, Sora?" Mimi whispered teasingly in the other girl's ear though it could be plainly heard by all. "It _must_ be love."

The pair on the floor froze and nanoseconds later were on opposite sides of the room.

"H-HIM?" Miyako all but screeched, pointing an accusing finger at the other. "Never!"

Daisuke couldn't even reply, just shuddering at the thought as he hung on to Ken's waist. Ken patted the boy's head comfortingly. "It's okay Daisuke."

"B-But Mimi said-"

"It's okay Daisuke."

The bantering went on and for the moment all attention appeared to be drawn to the two, leaving Taichi alone for the next few minutes. He watched as his sister put a calming hand on Miyako's shoulder and knew she'd probably be able to stop the potential brawl. That seemingly taken care of Taichi's interest in the matter waned and his attention was drawn inwards, his mind unwillingly drifting to thoughts he'd been trying all day not to think about.

_Would it hurt?_ he wondered. _Kari always said it hurt...but that was different...right? This was just a routine procedure. Nothing like what Kari was here for. So it shouldn't be so bad...I guess..._

"Hey." The word was accompanied by a shove to the shoulder and he blinked, turning his head to the side.

"Hm?"

"Are you all right?" This Yamato asked while giving him an assessing look.

Not being used to such close scrutiny and by Yamato of all people, Tai shifted uncomfortably, eyes straying to the side. "Yea. Why wouldn't I be?" he finally managed to say.

Whether Yamato was going to give an answer or not, he would never know because his doctor, Natsumi, and his anesthesiologist had taken that moment to enter the room to administer his anesthetics. He would fall asleep in about fifteen minutes.

Afterwards Natsumi, having been paged and needing to leave for a while, had taken it upon herself to usher everyone but immediate family members out of the room. Miyako had jumped Daisuke again and not in the romantic way. Taichi was rather disappointed to see them go.

"Feeling tired yet?"

Taichi jumped slightly in surprise and turned to see Hikari smiling beside him, mischief in her eyes.

He smiled in return. "Nah."

"Feeling _scared_ yet?"

"No way!"

Hikari giggled. "That's my big boy."

"Ha. Ha."

They both laughed for a short while before the sound slowly died away to an awkward silence. They didn't talk much after that, both very uncomfortable with the situation. When eyes met each smiled, but that was all.

Minutes passed and Hikari began to squirm in her seat, a motion Tai was very aware of. He finally bopped her on the head. "You can go if you want. It must be boring hanging around here with me when you could be doing that with Takeru over there." He finished with a smirk, pointing to the sheepish blonde who had somehow sneaked back into the room and was now standing by the door.

The "Hey" she meant to say when she was first whapped caught in her throat and Hikari looked down guiltily to the floor. It was such a silly fear, of hospitals that is, but it was still there and Tai unfortunately knew that. She lifted her eyes. "I'm sorry I can't stay longer onii-chan."

"Hey, no sweat." He knew how much hospitals made her feel uneasily. "Don't worry about it."

She opened her mouth, a protest on the edge of her lips but seeing her brother's knowing look, she stopped herself. "I'll...see you tonight then? With Mom and Dad?"

He smiled. "You bet!"

She smiled too and took Takeru's hand into hers when he stepped up beside her. "Well, I'll see you then...then." She laughed, shaking her head. She then nudged her boyfriend in the side. "Say goodbye Takeru."

"Goodbye Takeru." The Child of Hope echoed, unable to resist breaking the rather bleak atmosphere in the room. It seemed to work because Hikari's face lit up and she moved to thwack him on the head for the corny joke. Takeru managed to dodge his girlfriend's strike and ran to the door with a quick wave signaling his departure. "Later Tai!"

Taichi gave a short laugh as they left and continued to wave even after the door to his room was closed. After another minute he leaned back into his pillows, fidgeting every so often, eyes lowered to his hands.

It was so quiet and for once he wasn't up to filling the silence.

To be honest, he was terrified. The former Child of Courage and leader of the digidestined terrified...? That didn't make much sense at all. But he was at the moment, greatly so.

The truth? He hated hospitals, absolutely abhorred them because he never heard one good story about them and the memories he had of them weren't happy ones either. His body gave an involuntary shudder, hand unconsciously moving up to his cheek as he recalled that horrible day when Kari was put here because of him. He'd never forget that day.

So it wasn't too surprising when he first found out he was going to have surgery he freaked, not openly mind you, but in the privacy of his own bedroom. He didn't want everyone's reassurance that there was nothing to worry about. He didn't want to be babied; he had some pride. Besides, they'd all just laugh at him for being so scared; he just knew it and it'd just be plain embarrassing.

His fingers soon found themselves digging into the palms of his hands, the slight pain temporarily keeping the fatigue away.

He didn't want to be here!

He didn't _want_ to. If only he didn't complain to his mother about his stomach hurting. If only he didn't get that fever. If only...

He knocked himself over the head. __Idiot_. If you didn't then it would have gotten worse. What then?_

He sighed, pressing his head deeper into his pillows and focusing on the white ceiling above. He wished someone would have at least stayed with him until he fell asleep...He didn't want to be alone, not for this.

He vaguely heard something strange then, a rasping sort of noise. It took him a moment to realize he was the one making it. _Great, I'm giving myself a panic attack. Just great_. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to concentrate on taking in deep breaths. It was at that particular time when there was a knock on his door.

His body tensed at the sound, panic attack ending and forgotten in an instant as his mind began to reel. _I'm not even _asleep_ yet and they're going to cut me open!_

"Taichi?"

The breath that he held came out in a whoosh upon recognizing the muffled voice and he relaxed slightly. Another knock and the door opened revealing a familiar blonde head.

Taichi schooled his features as best he could and smiled, pushing himself up so he was sitting. "Hey Yamato. Whatcha doin' back here? I know you won't be seeing me for a few hours, but you're just going to have to live with it." He was surprised at how normal he sounded, joking and everything. It was like he was on automatic.

The rock star entered the room fully, closing the door behind him and offered his own smile. "Right Tai. I don't know what I would do with myself if I was separated from you for even a minute."

Taichi smiled genuinely this time, tension gradually disappearing.

"Actually," the blonde said, walking towards the bed, "I forgot my jacket in here, so I was coming back to get it." He gave his trademark smirk. "Sorry to disappoint you."

Taichi held his smile in place and shrugged...or at least he tried to. He temporarily forgot about his friend, his eyes widening a little as he realized he was getting tired and knowing exactly what that meant. It would only be a matter of time now before he fell asleep and then...and then...

"Tai, are you okay?"

"Huh?" The brunette snapped out of his thoughts and turned his head to the side. Yamato had at some point taken a seat beside his bed and was currently looking him over for the second time that day with curious blue eyes. "What-oh. Never better. Everything's just peachy." He laughed an awkward laugh and broke his gaze from blue and moved it back to his lap.

It was quiet for a few minutes before he heard the other sigh. Lifting his eyes he watched as Yamato leaned into the back of his seat. Tai frowned just a bit. Usually when Yamato sighed it meant he was exasperated with someone, usually him unfortunately. "What?" he questioned.

"You don't have to pretend for me, Tai," the other said simply, as if he were supposed to know this.

The former Child of Courage was taken aback a whole second before he tried to cover it up with another misplaced chuckle. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said, investing much effort into shaking his head lightly back and forth.

Yamato raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Don't you?"

He didn't bother to answer.

"You know...it's all right to be scared sometimes."

Tai whipped his head around, eyes blazing. "Who said anything about anyone being scared? 'Cause I'm _not_."

It was the other's turn to shake his head. "Denial is a sad, sad sight to see. Especially from you."

Taichi looked away, hands crossed over his chest. "You're not funny, so quit it."

Silence blanketed the room once more, though mentally Taichi was raving. _How would _he_ know? Jerk. He doesn't understand. Scared? Ha! ..._

"So what if I am a little nervous?" he asked out loud, voice sounding a bit high. "I mean it's only natural right? So what?"

A shrug. "Nothing's wrong with it."

"It doesn't make me any less of a person."

"Never said it would."

"It makes me normal, that's what it does."

"If you say so."

"I do!"

"Good for you then."

Tai flopped back onto his pillows and stared up at the ceiling. He didn't say anything else after that and Yamato remained silent.

Slowly but surely his eyes started to droop and he would open them right back, but it was getting harder and harder to do after a while. He could feel his body turning into one big dead weight and he began to panic. He didn't want to go to sleep. Didn't want to have this dumb surgery. He'd find someway to live with his stupid broken appendix! He-

His hand was given a gentle squeeze. Surprised, he rolled his head to the side until his eyes met blue.

Yamato gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't fight it Tai. Just let go."

He adverted his gaze. "You make it seem as if I'm dying or something." His statement sent a shiver down his spine.

"Tai-"

"And I don't wanna." _God, I'm_ _sounding like I'm five now._

"Tai."

A beat. "Yea?"

He heard his friend sigh. "Will you look at me?"

He did eventually.

Yamato looked straight into his eyes. "You'll be fine." The last word was stressed.

"Yea?" The word came out soft, lacking the energy his voice usually had. His eyes were getting heavier and he was too tired to fight it.

"Yes."

And heavier. "You promise?"

"I promise."

And heavier. "If you say so."

"I _do_."

"Good for you then," he breathed out, eyes now closed.

Yamato chuckled softly, causing Tai's lips to curve up a little.

Quiet again, Taichi's mind drifted, moving from one thought to the next. He didn't know why, but having Yamato beside him always made his worries go away and right now, he wasn't so afraid anymore. He wondered why.

He was on the brink of falling asleep, his last threads of consciousness slipping away when a thought occurred to him.

Yamato wasn't wearing a jacket today.

And then he knew nothing more.

\~\~\~\~\

The edges of Yamato's lips tilted upward as he watched Taichi finally fall asleep. He carefully removed his hand from the unconscious teen's and settled back into his seat, eyes sweeping across Tai's sleeping face. He couldn't remember a time when he'd seen the brunette so still and quiet. The thought almost made him laugh.

Hearing the door open behind him he twisted his head around, Natsumi's surprised eyes meeting his.

"Oh, I didn't know anyone else was in here," she said, opening the door fully and stepping inside.

Yamato shrugged slightly. "Tai seemed to need the company," he said, pushing himself out of his seat until he stood.

Natsumi blinked before she smiled. "I see."

There was a brief silence before ice blue eyes bore down hers and the smile slipped off her face. "...Yes...?" she asked, a bit taken aback.

"He'll be fine, won't he?" His tone was a no nonsense one, demanding the truth whether good or not.

Natsumi relaxed. "Yes, I assure you he'll be just fine." He didn't seem to believe her right away, his eyes still glaring and searching hers. She finally couldn't contain herself any longer and started to chuckle.

Yamato bristled, not liking to be made fun of. "What's so funny?"

She coughed into her hand, waving the other dismissively. "Nothing, I'm sorry." She crossed her arms loosely over her chest head tilting to the side. "I was just noticing something."

Yamato gave her an odd look. "What?"

Natsumi let her eyes drift to Taichi before moving them back. "That you two...must be very close friends."

Yamato stood stock-still, seemingly absorbing the words before he shrugged his shoulders indifferently, a slight redness staining his cheeks as he stole a glance behind him.

"Yea.

He let himself smile.

"We are."

End

Mika-chan

January 25, 2002


End file.
